TGIF Everybody and Welcome!

It’s another Rave Reviews Book Club BOOK AND BLOG BLOCK PARTY! (Try saying that fast!)
I’m coming to you from just outside Chicago, IL—close enough to run to it, far enough to run away!
My gifts to you for sharing with me today are(1) $15.00 Amazon Gift Card(1) $10.00 ITunes Gift Card
That makes the # of Lucky Winners for this stop: 2

I invited you here today so that I could thank all of you for inspiring and supporting me along my journey back. I say back because this isn’t my first rodeo. I have a drawer full of unpublished stories!

I don’t know why I decided to join RRBC. I imagine I wanted to give something to authors who needed to be heard and supported. I knew, firsthand, how hard the struggle is. In the beginning, I enjoyed being on the outside of the club, retweeting your tweets, and sharing your books. I grew to respect and admire your talents, but I never expected to gain more than personal satisfaction.

Rave Reviews Book Club stated in the rules that I didn’t have to be an author (calling tech here), but, all of a sudden, authors like Robin Chambers started retweeting me and telling people to buy my books. Lord Have Mercy!!! I didn’t have any books!

Next, RRBC made me a Member of the Week because of my outstanding support of you guys. So naturally, I volunteered to join the Bethany Turner Pay It Forward roster and in doing so, I bought and familiarized myself with a lot more of your books.

Then, surprise, surprise! I began admonishing myself in Nonnie Jules’ voice—you know the one she uses when she’s telling us that “Sugarcoating is for Candy…” and I forced myself to write again!

So what follows is an excerpt from my book, The Neon Houses. Going forward, I’ll need an editor, a cover, a trailer, some reviews—all the resources and advice my RRBC literary family is known for. I’m a LUCKY girl!
But first, take a look and tell me what you think! If you like the first excerpt, you can click on the post entitled “The Neon Houses” on the right of the page and go to the second one (I’ll learn how to link eventually) .

Thanks for stopping by. As soon as possible, I’ll post the winners of my prizes! Be kind enough to leave a comment about my excerpt and I will see you on the next stop of the Rave Reviews Book Club BOOK AND BLOG BLOCK PARTY!

Linda on the day you posted your party blog I was out of town attending a family wedding and missed it and 4 others. So as I’m reading the Weekly Club Updates, I find you there under the inspirational blogs so I pulled it up. Your excerpt is really interesting. Must investigate further. Sorry I missed out on winning your awesome prizes. Drat!!

Congrats, Linda, on finishing the books. Looking forward to reading the finished book. You’re on your way for sure. Loved both your excerpts and your gorgeous header at the top of the Neon Houses. Good luck and best wishes for success.

Congrats on a great opening hook for your upcoming novel! Enjoyed learning more about you and your enthusiasm and for you commitment to #RRBC. Folowing and looking forward to sharing your awesome PARTY POST! :_

Ooh, remind me not to book a holiday there! There – you’ve convinced me it’s a real place. I agree, you don’t need to explain it all at the beginning, but one of the thing I tend to find with some of these dystopian stories is that the author is so familiar with “their world” that they forget to be kind to the reader and ease them through it. Not saying you do that, mind. It reads well so far. Thanks.

What an inspiring post, Linda. Welcome back to writing, it’s never too late to put your dreams on paper. I agree RRBC is super supportive. Your book concept is intriguing and I see great things in your future.

Hi, Linda! I’m very happy that you decided to start writing again – your excerpts prove that you have what it takes and this story will one day be a great read to sit proudly in our RRBC catalog! Wow! Your page banner is fantastic! Have a great day on your Block Party!!

Hi Linda, it is good to know you and to learn more about you. Just remember, once you have a story to tell, and you tell it, you are a writer. So now, you are an author. Good to know that our great #RRBC was able to pull that story out of ya. 🙂 Have a great party today.

This is AWESOME!!! I absolutely love it! I was sucked right in. Right after fantasy/paranormal, my next favorite genre is dystopian, and I’m already hooked. I can’t wait for you to publish this. If you are looking for a book cover artist, I would recommend Tatiana Vila of Vila Design (http://viladesign.net). I have to share that I laughed a moment when I read that your story takes place in 2055 because my brain processed that and realized that that is only 40 years from now! I remember when the idea of 2000-anything was so futuristic and “out there,” and now it’s here. lol! Thank you for sharing this story with us, and I look forward to hearing about its release date so that I can buy it! 🙂

Love this post, Linda, and am sooo glad you decided to write a book! Both excerpts of Neon Houses look great and I can’t wait to read the finished book! Dystopian is right up my alley 🙂 Very best of luck, Linda, and thanks for all your support! Now it’s your turn 🙂

The story, from the opening line, is engaging enough that I’d say don’t give us all the “premise” info. A premise is usually a one liner anyway! I’d prefer to discover the rest through your writing (so I’ll have to read on!). I like the feeling that I don’t know everything about a book’s world right away and that I have to find out! But that’s just me. I enjoyed it and wish you the very best!

Hi, Linda! I’ve been anxiously awaiting your stop and alas, here it is! I love the sign on the door! I love the NEON LIGHTS! Most of all, I love the fact that you are writing, and I’m so happy that you love the club and every chance you get, you are shouting that message to the world! We adore you…have a great party stop today!

Monthly Festival : Turn your book into a movie and get it seen by 1000s of people. Or garner FULL FEEDBACK from publishers on your novel and help your next draft. Or get a transcript video of your novel performed by professional actors.